When I sand down a piece of furniture in preparation to refinish it, I’m stripping it of it’s former colors and patterns so that I can then listen to the structure of the piece tell me how it should be painted.
Okay… you’re probably thinking… that’s crazy. Furniture doesn’t talk.
No, it doesn’t; but it does speak to me.
Haven’t you ever been walking through a store and suddenly see that one piece of furniture out of hundreds that is the perfect size with the perfect color in the perfect finish. There’s a symmetry when the moons align and all of these elements come together to form the perfect piece of furniture for you.
Such was case with this Mid-Century Modern dresser. I found it at a local thrift store and knew right away I was taking it home. I envisioned the exact stain color it needed and that it needed the unusual brass highlighted with a unique, bright white paint design.
MCM dressers and cabinets are some of my favorite pieces to refinish because that vision can be different every time, yet fit the piece perfectly. Like with this purple MCM dresser shown here, or this modern two-tone dresser shown here. Two very different finishes, yet because of the clean MCM lines, each works so well.
The desser’s original finish was a 1960 light pecan stain. It was time to bring it into the 21st century and go much darker. I began by sanding down the entire dresser.
I mixed up a custom stain (dark walnut with a dash of ebony) and began by staining the entire dresser, including the drawers. A foam brush was used to brush on the stain. I waited 5 minutes to allow the stain to fully soak into the wood to achieve a very rich finish and then wiped off the excess with a soft towel.
The stain took almost three days to fully dry. From there, I taped off the painted areas on the drawers and applied three coats of a premium white semi-gloss over BIN primer.
Finally, three coats of a clear matte water-based poly were brushed on to protect the finish.
The contrast between the dark stain and the bright white is stunning…
The insides of the drawers were also lightly sanded and then clear-coated.
The brass hardware now stands out against the bright white. The drawer pulls are so unusual they deserved to be highlighted.
This MCM 3-drawer dresser is now for sale in my SHOP.
This dresser has been featured on…
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Thank you & Enjoy!
Vicki
This turned out so lovely. I understand exactly what you mean about furniture talking to you. Don’t you believe that is because you are an artist?
Thank you. I never thought of myself as an artist because I could never paint a portrait, but I guess there are all kinds of artists. 🙂
Let me start by saying that Mid-Century Modern is not usually a favorite of mine but this piece has certainly caught my eye!!! This has been redone so beautifuly and I am absolutely taken with the unique hardware! Well done indeed! Thank you for sharing it at Making Broken Beautiful!
Smiles!
Terry
Thank you Terry! It’s always fun to work on different styles.
Another lovely piece! This is gorgeous! I hope you’ll share it with us at Friday’s Furniture Fix! Doors close tonight at 11:59 PM EST… http://www.thirtyeighthstreet.com/2015/12/fridays-furniture-fix-link-party-no-18.html
Thank you so much. Will absolutely share on your link party!